DOJ revives fight against Minnesota’s in-state tuition for undocumented students

Dive Brief:

• The Trump administration is escalating its legal battle against Minnesota over state laws that provide in-state tuition rates and scholarships to certain undocumented students.
• The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday appealed a federal judge’s March decision dismissing its case and siding with Minnesota. The lawsuit now heads to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
• The May 1 appeal came the day after the DOJ sued New Jersey over its in-state tuition laws for undocumented students, making it the ninth state the agency has targeted over such policies.

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Dive Insight:

The DOJ sued Minnesota last June, alleging the state’s in-state tuition policies illegally offer undocumented students benefits not available to all U.S. citizens.

In Minnesota, an undocumented student is eligible for in-state tuition rates at public colleges if they:

• Attended a high school in the state for at least three years.
• Graduated from high school or earned a GED diploma in Minnesota. 
• Have applied for lawful immigration status.

Minnesota officials have waived the last requirement because no federal immigration pathway exists specifically for undocumented students.

If an undocumented student meets these criteria and their household income is less than $80,000 a year, they also qualify for the state’s North Star Promise Scholarship. The program covers any remaining tuition and fees at public colleges after all other aid has been applied.

The Trump administration has argued that Minnesota’s in-state tuition and financial aid policies, and others like them, violate federal law barring states from giving undocumented students access to higher education benefits based on in-state residency if those benefits aren’t available to out-of-state U.S. citizens. 

But Minnesota leaders argued in their March motion to dismiss the lawsuit that “any student that attends and graduates from a Minnesota high school is eligible, and non-Minnesota residents (both citizens and noncitizens) may qualify.” For example, an out-of-state student who had attended a Minnesota boarding school would be eligible for in-state college tuition under the same stipulations.

A federal judge agreed, ruling both that Minnesota’s laws offer the same benefits to citizens and undocumented residents and that federal immigration law does not preempt those state policies.